Hey guys, I recently picked up an ‘82 f250 regular cab long box with a plow. This truck sat for about 12 years in a field before the guy we bought it from pulled it out and got it running. He plowed his small driveway with it the last 3 winters and allegedly didn’t have any issues. I’ve been using the truck around the yard and have had it on the road a few times, as we are working to make this 100% road worthy. This truck has recently developed a stalling problem. That I’ve chased a bit but can’t seem to find an answer. It will run good until it gets warmed up. It has a fuel cell in the bed with an electric pump on the frame rail. It will stall out, I believe because of lack of power going to fuel pump, and when I go to restart the truck, the starter won’t do anything, other things I’ve noticed is when this issue occurs, the blower motor for the heat will not work, and the door buzzer doesn’t buzz. At night when this happens and I try starting it, it will not even dim the lights. Generally after sitting 3-5 minutes it will again turn over and I can keep going for about 10 minutes until this happens again. Today this truck did this while plowing my driveway and It won’t turn over again. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Where to start unwrapping? Sounds like you’ve got a lot going on here. There may be more than one fault in play, but don’t panic. Find it, fix it, and continue troubleshooting to isolate the next fault. Repeat as necessary.

First thing to consider. How old is the battery? Does it predate the 12 year hiatus in the field? No mention of it having been replaced, so I gotta be sure. If this battery is nearly old enough to buy alcohol and tobacco, just replace it. Don’t mess around with an ancient battery, even if it seems to start the engine okay at times.

If the battery is newer, please follow the next three steps in EXACT order before doing anything else:

1) Charge the poor battery

2) Charge the poor battery

3) Charge the poor battery

Seriously, this is a very important step, so please don’t skip it. A trickle charger won’t cut it. I suggest an automatic charger with at least a ten amp output. If you don’t have such a critter, take the battery to any auto parts store. They will charge and test it for free.

After that, put a voltmeter on the battery terminals and start the engine. You want to see approximately 13.5 volts. If lower, your charging system is not up to snuff and needs some love.

There’s plenty more to investigate, but begin with these basic steps. Don’t expect one magic bullet will suddenly fix everything. You may have to chip away at it, fixing one thing at a time.

Keep in mind that whenever the engine stalls, for whatever reason, the battery and the rest of the starter system should still be able to spin the crankshaft at the proper speed. Whether the engine actually starts is a separate issue, but we can get to that in good time.

 

Thanks for the reply. Both batteries are new in the past two years, and while running have 13.5 Amps and seem to be fully charged. It’s like there is some kinda of disconnect that has happened within the ignition someplace

 

The power for the whole truck starts at the starter relay large terminal that goes to the battery +. There is a smaller wire or wires on that large terminal. They lead down into the harness where they are spliced into the alternator charge wire, and then they go on down the pass side, another splice to feed the headlight switch directly (no fuse box connection for the headlights) and then the power wire is usually yellow and enters the cab on the pass side. It then goes across to the ignition switch on top of the steering column. Near there is another splice which comes off that power wire and feeds the hot all the time portions of the fuse box.

Since you seem to always have headlights, the connections at the starter relay at the beginning must be good. There must be a problem after the headlight splice. Since you say the blower motor also quits, that power is from the keyswitch power, since it does not run if the ignition switch is off. I am starting to suspect the ignition switch itself. You might want to try wiggling the key when you are having trouble with it. A common problem with these trucks is the key not returning to it's proper position after starting, especially in cold weather when the grease gets stiff in the column. My truck had problems for several years like this, sometimes the wipers would not work, sometimes the fuel gauge would not work. I got into the habit of starting the truck, and the lightly wiggling the keyswitch to seat it back to it's run position. I finally sprayed wd40 up in where the key inserts and drowned that to to lubricate the top of the column, and I replace the ignition switch. That made all the problems go away for that one.

Experiment with the keyswitch and see if you get anywhere with it.

 

That makes a lot of sense. I will dig into this further tomorrow morning, it does seem like from the switch on is where the issue lies. Thanks Franklin

 

You mentioned batteries (plural). Is the truck a factory diesel? Or was the second battery part of the plow installation?

Does it have a big starter relay on passenger side inner fender, just aft of the battery? Not sure about diesel models, so I wanted to be sure.

When all is good, how is the starter cranking speed? I’m curious how the starter behaves under load. Does it spin reliably at a good clip? Or does it struggle and bog down? Remember, I’m asking about when things are at their best.

When things are bad, and you can’t start the engine, what does the starter do? Does it struggle now? Or does it act as if you hadn’t even turned the key?

Sorry (not sorry) for all the questions but I’m trying to get a feel if you’ve got something slowing the starter (bad cable, weak battery, etc.) or a problem in the control circuit (ign switch, starter relay, etc.)

I would also suggest temporarily rigging up a voltmeter in the cab to keep an eye on the charging system while driving. Or you could get one of doohickeys that plugs into the lighter and has a voltage readout.

Don’t forget to charge that poor battery! Even if the truck’s charging system were to intermittently fail, the battery should keep things going for a little while, up to an hour based on electrical load.

I’ve got to commend you for not throwing parts at the problem just yet. Usually, by the time somebody writes in for help, they’re on their second battery and third starter…

 

Its got a 351w in it with the C3. I believe the secondary battery is part of the plow installation, and I know next to nothing about it, other than it was a truck purchase new by a very small school system in my area and it was what they used for years.
the starter relay is on the passenger side inner fender, when it runs, the truck sounds like it turns over how it should, I wouldn’t say it sounds slow or weak in any way. When it won’t run, it does nothing, meaning it acts like I haven’t turned the key. It generally Just stalls which I believe is because the fuel pump stopped working, and then when I attempt to restart there’ll by turning the key, it does nothing however I have head lights, dash lights, and dome lights but no door buzzer, blower motor and turning the key does nothing. Usually if I let it sit for a few minutes it will again turn over and all the different things that didn’t work work again, however I was plowing this afternoon and it did it, and still can’t get anything to “come back.” I think a voltmeter is a great idea and I will add one.
I appreciate the questions.

 

Okay, hot on the trail! The starter control circuit sounds like at least part of the problem.

Rig up a small test jumper, a foot of wire with alligator clips at both ends. Wire size isn't important, maybe 14 gauge or so. Keep this test jump jumper handy.

Next time the truck won't start, put the transmission in Park and set the parking brake. Ignition off and remove the key. On the starter relay, disconnect the small terminal labeled S. Stay clear of the fan as the starter should spin in this next step. Momentarily touch your spiffy test lead between the battery (+) terminal and the exposed S terminal on the starter relay.

​​​​​​This mimics the normal signal as if you had turned the key to Start. The starter relay should make a satisfying clunk and the starter should engage. The engine obviously won't start as the ignition is off, but we are only testing the starter control circuit.

If nothing happens, it's probably due to a bad starter relay. More on that another time, but don't rush out and buy a replacement just yet.

If the starter kicks in properly during this test, you've got a problem in the control circuit. The ignition switch would be the most likely culprit, but there are additional tests we can run for confirmation.

So far I'm only having you test for why the starter doesn't respond. With any luck, the root cause for this is also what causes the engine to die, but no guarantees.

 

Any idea where the electric fuel pump is getting power? Any add-on wiring at the fuse panel?

 

So I gets to thinking…

I wonder how the fuel pump is wired through the ignition switch. I bet it is pulling power from the same pole as the heater motor.

The ignition switch is basically four separate switches (poles) in a common housing. The pole for the heater motor carries the most current, so it is the one most likely to overheat and fail.

As Dave has already suggested, try wiggling the switch when the fault occurs. You might be able to make the contacts touch on a relatively clean spot instead of the normal damaged spot.

Here is a very simple test of the ignition switch:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...on-switch.html

That link contains another link with details of how to change the switch. It’s not difficult at all, only about 45 minutes or so.